A Slave Singled Out: 52 Ancestors 2023 Prompt “Lucky”

Not Lucky Enough: A Slave Receives Special Treatment in the Will of Peter Smith

Peter Smith: 1736-1797 (Maternal 4^th Great-Grandfather)

 

Willis Smith’s great-grandfather Peter Taylor Smith died in Caswell County, North Carolina in 1797, leaving a detailed will dividing his estate among his twelve children. Unfortunately, Peter Smith was a slave owner, and his will included numerous human beings amongst his property, human beings who were distributed among his children along with saddles and household furnishings. However, one enslaved man had a slightly different fate than Smith’s other slaves—a life with a few limited choices. But how fortunate was this “lucky” slave in reality? What can we learn from his fate?

Peter Smith’s will basically divides his enslaved humans into three categories. First were individual slaves given to one specific child. Peter’s two daughters were each given a female slave. Elizabeth received an adult named Jane, while Martha received a child named Bess. In addition, his son Jesse was given a “boy name Lewis” and son Moses was given a “boy name Edmond”. Aron (also Aaron) received a “Negro girl name Fanney.”

The will states that all Peter Smith’s remaining property, including the rest of his slaves, be divided amongst his six remaining sons. However, there was one notable exception:

“Except my Negro man Anthony who tho not absolutely free I will that he have liberty to have his own free choice from time to time to serve which of my children he shall chose and not to be confined to one-particular but if ill treated by one to have free liberty to go to another as he shall think fit & not to be sold to any other person.”

This is a fascinating passage. What can we learn from this?

Passage from Peter's will about Anthony

First, Anthony is described as “my Negro man”, which sounds like he was a personal servant, perhaps the equivalent of a valet. In addition, Anthony was an adult—Peter made a distinction between young slaves, referring to them as boys and girls, and adult slaves, referring to them as men or women.

Peter obviously felt a friendly attachment to Anthony and cared about his welfare. However, he did not see Anthony as a true friend or equal, for he kept him in bondage when he might have chosen to set him free in the will. He obviously saw Anthony as a valuable part of his estate, too valuable to be given away.

It is also obvious that Peter did not trust his children to treat slaves with decency or humanity. He obviously felt it likely that some of his children might abuse Anthony. Where would they have learned such callousness toward other human beings if not from him? Were his other slaves mistreated? Was this commonplace on his property and was Anthony’s “liberty” to be free from abuse a contrast from the manner in which other enslaved people were treated on Smith’s land?

Caswell County NC mid-1800s map

I wonder which of Smith’s children Anthony chose as his owner. And did he stay with that family, or did he exercise his right to switch households?

Many of Peter Smith’s children ended up moving to Kentucky. Did they take their slaves with them, or did they sell their slaves before they left North Carolina? Did Anthony end up in Kentucky, or did he spend his life in North Carolina?

And what of Anthony’s family? Did he have a wife? Children? Only Anthony was protected from being sold out of the extended family—any family members he might have had could have been sold away from him. Even for this “lucky” slave, his life was filled with uncertainty, misery, disrespect and terror.

Since Anthony was already an adult in 1797 when Peter Smith died, it is unlikely he lived long enough to benefit from the Emancipation Proclamation. I hope that his children achieved the freedom that Anthony was denied.

Sources:

Will Records, With Some Inventories, Estates and Settlements, 1777- 1963; Author: North Carolina. Superior Court (Caswell County); Probate Place: Caswell, North Carolina. Accessed via Ancestry.com. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/9061/images/004779974_00187?pId=2191221